the revolution is over 15 of october, 1996 by johnmichael patrick monty monteith

I am not talking about the Beetles song. I am talking about the Atari Computer movement, "The Revolution". Not familiar with it? For those of you with strong computer history, Atari Computer in the latter years of it’s life, before it went game machine only, had a movement started in it’s honor called "The Revolution". It was a group of Atari enthusiasts in the United States that banded together to form a network of Atari evangelists. This group did anything and everything to support Atari and their ill fated Atari ST line of computers.

Founded and supported by a single Atari supporter (an Atari employee), this group was the network for putting Atari back on top in the world market place again. They had their own newsletter which came out on a monthly basis covering all of the news Atari enthusiasts wanted to read. The newsletter highlighted all of the companies which supported and went out of their way for Atari. It paid special attention to all of the good news happening in the Atari community, completely ignoring anything which might have a negative slant on the company. They had many stories about how Atari computer and the Atari operating system was far superior to any other on the market. When Atari posted record losses, "The Revolution" found a way to make it seem good. When Atari kept losing market share, they found ways to make the smaller market share seem respectable (comparing themselves to other companies with small market shares was one of the many techniques). When Atari looked beyond hope, they fell back on the superiority of the Atari platform for guidance.

Perhaps the most influential part of "The Revolution" was their letter writing campaign. They wrote just about every software company on Earth that did not make an Atari ST version. They bombarded companies that were using other computers with letters asking them to switch to the superior Atari ST computer line. They wrote letters to thank companies that supported the Atari ST, and usually wrote warm and fuzzy articles in "The Revolution" newsletter about the companies.

When Atari Computer started to fall below 10% market share in some of it’s key markets (in the computer world, usually a sure sign of impending doom), "The Revolution" switched into high gear. This is when I remember Atari enthusiasts walking into software stores asking for the Atari ST section when they knew there never was one. After asking a question which they already knew the answer, they would proceed to argue why Atari was the greatest computer platform anywhere. I remember reading hate mail that Atari enthusiasts would write to rival computer supporters, just to further their cause. "The Revolution" seemed to have a sense of urgency that it never had previously. They would write anyone that was not supporting Atari, and write any story which put the ST in a positive light. Anything. There was little doubt about the desperation in "The Revolution".

Unfortunately for Atari enthusiasts, the story ends on a note that the entire computer world fully expected. In the end, nobody cared. Atari computer abandoned it’s Atari ST line of computers years ago in favor of profitable game machines. However, even that could not keep them from the inevitable. Atari computer was, essentially, dissolved earlier this year. Atari is now officially dead. And there is nobody left in "The Revolution" to care anymore. They have all long since upgraded to WinTel machines, or perhaps just disappeared into the computer abyss.

There are only two differences between "The Revolution" and the current "MacWay Evangelist":

The name. And, the Atari ST was widely considered to be a superior computer to the Macintosh.